So to get started. I myself am from the North East.
Despite often being labelled as the poor North or the massively underfunded North. Things don’t feel that bad here. Compared to the more “richer” areas I prefer it here.
The North East is appealing because its quite hilly, being next to the dales and pennies and all. We must be at a higher elevation cause each year I hear about the South dealing with floods.
We don’t really get that up here and we also don’t get the hot temperatures either. As well as the intense winds of the west or the colds of the North. Kinda in a safe cosy spot.
We don’t have many major cities but we have so many smaller towns in between so the idea of rural living is actually quite appealing. It’s like suburban land.
Although that changes when you go North of Newcastle which isn’t nearly as invested it seems. Not as many people or towns or interconnectivity.
My impression of those folks is that life is probably more rough and more boring.
We’re probably labelled as the poorest area in the UK or at least one of the poorest but things don’t feel that bad. We don’t make as much money but things don’t feel as if they’re as expensive as well.
Housing is a good example of this. Houses in the North east are quite cheap. Simple ownership can be achieved under 100k. Low as 50k if you’re willing to put in the work.
Anything over 100k is pretty great and fairly large. It always surprises me seeing how expensive southern houses are and seeing what they actually look like compared to what you can get up here but for a way better price.
Housing isn’t everything and whilst obviously folks do struggle as they do in all areas. It’s not all doom and gloom. You can live comfortably even when on a low wage.
Overall I’d rate the North East a 7/10. Not shabby.
by Crusader2k9
11 comments
Don’t count where I live, hampshire, as south east. Plenty of us sound a bit wurzely. It’s a nice place but does have some shitholes, pompey, southampton, gosport aldershot, basingstoke. All shite and a bit rough. Avoid those places and it’s as nice as anywhere in the country.
Dorset now after many years in West Yorkshire. The differences are mainly that the pace of life is slower with warmer weather, much less violent crime, young people are more friendly, much more racism, fewer opportunities for the young, expensive housing, no motorways.
I’m from the West Midlands, lived there over forty years, I now live in the North West, Lancaster to be precise, the Midlands is a dump by comparison, it’s dirty, crowded and unhappy. The only thing I miss is my family, Lancaster is beautiful, it’s clean and happy and full of history that no one has tried to damage or set on fire.
South West rural to North West rural. Gone from hills to slightly bigger hills, still wet as fuck, cheaper beer, people are sound. Not much difference really; other than less traffic and a bit more money in my pocket at the end of the month. The South West got completely unaffordable for me around 10 years ago, so I moved.
East Mids: It’s alright.
Relatively easy to get north into Yorkshire and beyond or south to London.
The cities get a bit of slack but I think most of em are quite nice and good fun/easy to get around. But as most cities, they can all be a bit rough around the edges
Having been born and brought up in London, and then moved about a bit (except the North East/West), from my perspective there is London and then everywhere else. Outside of London you find very similar quaint villages, nice countryside, gritty post-industrial cities with perhaps some regen going on everywhere. London is a global city with a whole different feel (and wealth) to the rest of the country. Might as well be an independent city state.
North West is truly elite.
Not only does it have the Lake District (and some of the Peak District), it’s decently cheap and has FOUR major cities, all within close proximity to each other. The nature is some of the best in England, too.
Everyone goes “oooh it’s so nice there, so posh!” but I live in a house share on a main road of a council estate. It’s only the town that’s nice and even there the highstreet is dying and I can’t ever afford a house here. But I’m 5 mins from north Yorkshire moors and the countryside is beautiful – Harrogate, N Yorks.
I live in the East Midlands region. You can’t say “Hey this region is X” because it’s too variable. Rural Lincolnshire has nothing in common with the Derby-Nottingham-Leicester urban triangle (not quite a conurbation, but slowly merging together).
East Anglia. Flat, and not much going on.
I’m not sure whether we’re North or South, in fact I’m not sure I’d count us as either really. Most of it is quite nice, despite not much going on but there are a few absolute dumps, victims of the decline of seaside tourism.
We are pretty close to London though.
I’ve always lived in either Hampshire or London.
Most people in the southern part of Hampshire think of it as “the south”, but it became the western border of the south-east as far as official districts are concerned. In my opinion it probably does have more in common with the rest of the south-east than with the south-west. But ultimately it’s a transition zone from one to the other.
Big towns and cities in Hants, mostly in the north and south of the county (Portsmouth-Southampton, Basingstoke, Aldershot-Farnborough), are very different from the smaller places in the middle and the New Forest. The towns and cities are very urban, can be quite rough in places, mid county and the Forest are much more genteel, typical true-blue rural heartland you might say.
London is a pale shadow of what it was in decades past. Just looking at the centre, once bustling and lively areas now seem quiet and sterile by comparison. I guess a combination of businesses closing due to WFH, traffic restrictions and prices going up. Areas that were once dodgy, such as Brixton, are now full of middle-class professionals, and areas that were once nice (usually outer suburbs like Harrow, Croydon etc) are now a lot less nice.